Most golf courses provide practice greens on which a golfer may practice putting. Golfers are most likely to use the practice greens before playing a round of golf. When a golf course is crowded, a number of golfers may be waiting to tee off the first tee. The practice greens become crowded at such times. Often at such times the number of golfers desiring to use the practice greens far exceeds the number of holes. The situation calls for a device which will enable the golfer to practice putting, and short iron shots when possible, even when no hole is available.
Golf practice devices which enable the golfer to practice putting and approach shots even when no hole is available are known. However, such devices have their limitations, and none has achieved widespread popularity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,779 to Taylor discloses a practice device for putts and approach shots which includes a disk or spider which may be placed against the grass or turf and a vertical shaft which can be inserted into the ground through a central opening in the disk or spider. The disk or spider depresses the grass under it so as to form a simulated golf cup. When a golf ball rolls into the simulated cup, the upstanding grass and turf tend to hold th ball in the cup. Of course, if the ball is hit strongly, it may roll out.
The device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,779 has certain shortcomings. First, the device is designed for use on fairly high grass rather than on the close cropped grass which characterizes a well maintained putting surface. A ball putted on high grass travels slowly and for a shorter distance than it would on a putting green, so that the golfer would not have a true indication as to how accurate the direction and distance of his putts really are. If the device were used on a closely cropped putting green, the wire at the circumference would stand up above the grass and would either stop or deflect a ball which hits it. The golfer in many cases would not know if the ball would have dropped into a real hole or if it would have grazed the hole and kept going. As golfers know, a ball which is hit too strongly may fail to drop into the hole even though the direction is quite accurate. The device does not accurately indicate which balls would drop into a real hole and which would merely graze the hole without dropping.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,505 to Kenziorski shows a portable, collapsible golf practice device intended especially for practice driving or "shagging" golf balls. The device includes a weighted cylindrical base at ground level. The device can be used for putting practice; the base serves as the target. The base should have a diameter of about 1.4 inches for putting practice, according to the patentee. Also according to patentee, if a ball putted toward a base of this diameter comes into contact with the base the golfer can assume that it would have sunk in regulation play. Actually, it appears that this may not always be the case. A hard hit ball, especially, might strike the base and yet merely graze the cup under actual play conditions.
Although golf putting practice devices are known, none accurately indicates which golf balls would drop into a real hole and which would merely graze the cup.